The rankings below are based on a mixture of expected output and DraftKings’ NASCAR salaries for that day. The ordering is not based on the highest projected fantasy totals, but rather by the value of each driver.
The DraftKings NASCAR Xfinity Series Pacific Office Automation 147 at Portland slate locks at 4:30 p.m. ET on Saturday.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NXS $75K Piston [$20K to 1st] (XFIN)
1. AJ Allmendinger ($10,500) — Portland is a brand new addition to the circuit. All drivers come in with a blank slate. It stands to reason that NASCAR’s preeminent road racer will be the first to figure it out.
2. Noah Gragson ($10,300) — It’s not a surprise that AJ Allmendinger has the best average finish at road courses (an average finish of fifth) or that the next best average is 10th. It might be a surprise that Gragson — despite never winning a road race — has the second-best average finish.
3. Ty Gibbs ($10,600) — AJ Allmendinger and Austin Cindric wrecked each other in the 2021 Daytona Road Course race. Even if that does not happen, and Ty Gibbs finishes third instead of first, that’s still an impressive Xfinity Series debut.
4. Justin Allgaier ($10,100) — Averages can be skewed by too few races and saddled by too many races. Allgaier has 30 Xfinity road course races under his belt and his production has always been consistent. His average finish of 11th ranks third in the Xfinity Series.
5. Daniel Hemric ($9,000) — Allgaier and Gragson’s road course excellence comes as little surprise, but Hemric’s average finish of 13th (fourth-best average finish) is striking. If all things are equal at the novel road course, then this could be the unexpected location of Hemric’s second career win.
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6. Brandon Jones ($9,400) — Few drivers have more road course experience than Brandon Jones (30 races). This number does not include the numerous Trans Am races and ARCA road races. With that many reps one would expect a driver to improve, but not Brandon Jones. There have been moments where it looked like he knew what he was doing. There have been more moments where it did not.
7. Riley Herbst ($9,200) — A lack of practice and experience has always relegated Herbst to the second tier of the Xfinity Series. Neither of those excuses have any merit this weekend. This is a put up or shut up weekend. The SHR car has won several Xfinity road course races in the past with Chase Briscoe behind the wheel.
8. Josh Berry ($9,900) — This Is a good week to sell Josh Berry shares. His JRM car has been fast, and he is the championship front runner. The late model legend knows the ovals. He does not know the road courses.
9. Sam Mayer ($9,800) — At a regular road course, Mayer would be at a disadvantage based on experience. Or at least one would assume that to be so, but Mayer has two 10th-place finishes and a fifth-place finish in five races. If he figured those tracks out quickly, then he should be fine at the Portland road course.
10. Connor Mosack ($8,500) — JGR is bringing in a road ringer. They haven’t had much success with the road ringer move recently and Mosack isn’t really an expert road course racer. He has one season of Trans Am racing experience, but he did win at Watkins Glen. Still, it’s the No. 18 car and everyone lacks experience this weekend.
11. Sheldon Creed ($8,600) — Young Xfinity drivers often struggle in road races because they lack the experience of the veteran drivers with well versed teams. That’s not the case this weekend. The playing field is even.
12. Austin Hill ($9,600) — He won the 2021 Watkins Glen Truck Series race and led 35 of the 61 laps. Hill has won at every type of track — intermediate, plate, dirt and road course. A level playing field might be just what he needs to earn his second Xfinity Series victory.
13. Jade Buford ($7,300) — One fun part of DFS road course research is googling for gems that other DFS players do not know about. Of course, writing about those nuggets ruins it, so it goes. Buiford finished third in the Pirelli GT4 race at Portland International Raceway in 2018.
14. Mason Filippi ($6,300) — He has a pole, win and third-place finish at Portland in the TCR series, and the TCR touring cars are not wildly different from stock cars. Filippi is running a Mario Gosselin car, and Alex Labbe has been fairly sporty in Gosselin equipment at road courses in the past.
15. Darren Dilley ($5.200) — Those that can’t do, teach. Those that can’t teach, teach Phys Ed. Those that can’t afford to buy an Xfinity Series car for an oval race, buy the discounted road course ride. Honestly, it’s very surprising a teacher could afford a road race. Dilley is a Phys Ed teacher racing a Sieg car. Sounds like a straight-to-streaming Kevin James movie.
Set your DraftKings fantasy NASCAR lineups here: NXS $75K Piston [$20K to 1st] (XFIN)
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